Shorten sings her praises as PM's fortunes brighten

Bill Shorten has delivered an emphatic message to Melbourne business leaders that his support for Julia Gillard is unqualified - and that she will endure and ultimately ''prevail'' against the odds.

Introducing the Prime Minister in front of more than 10 ministerial colleagues, the Assistant Treasurer told a private ''progressive business'' fund-raiser at Albert Park last week that neither he nor his colleagues would let Gillard down.

Likening her challenge to ''a tight-wire walk in high winds over Niagara'', he said: ''The lady's not for daunting, not this one, however daunting her task appears.''

The lyrical speech was delivered almost as a ballad, with Shorten praising his leader for being steadfast despite the barking by some in the media ''as the ugly aggressive wharf-side canines of Peter Reith''.

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But what seems clear is that Australia has entered a new phase of the political cycle, where Abbott is under pressure to depart from his relentless negativity and Gillard has some breathing space to attempt a recovery.

If she fails to lift Labor's primary vote to a competitive level in the coming months, Gillard will again be under pressure. But Shorten, for one, is exuding quiet confidence that she can lead Labor to victory in 2013.

Among the ministers present at the dinner were Wayne Swan, Nicola Roxon, Stephen Smith, Simon Crean and Brendan O'Connor.

Shorten opened with a declaration that these were not the best times to be a leader, saying: ''It is not sufficient, in times like these, merely to be prime minister, and with the power of that office to seek to command obedient loyalty, and guide good policy, in the time that runs out, before a crisis begins, or is averted.

''Leadership requires particular qualities, of resolution, and swiftness, and consultative wisdom and copious emotional intelligence that Julia Gillard has, and has demonstrated repeatedly, and notably in these last 10 days.''